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20081126

Hi, Thomas aka Goatboy here to help out those people that have a ton of units lying there unpainted and find the task of finishing off their army daunting. My methods for painting have helped me finish most armies within 3 to 4 weeks to a good table standard. Today I will just be talking about how to start the process and plan it out. So let's get started.

1. Plan out your color scheme with a test model. I normally like to take just one basic model and bust out with a color scheme on it. I write out each color I use and any changes I might do with it in my little paint journal/random notebook I get from work. I like to do this so I won't forget the methods I used when trying to finish off squads.

2. Once I complete a test model and find a scheme I like, I go about setting up blocks of units to paint. Most of the time, 10 man units work out pretty well, and once you get the hang of that you can move onto larger blocks of models (like orks who are normally in blocks of 30 or 15, depending on the unit).

3. I have the amount of plastics dudes set aside, I go and grab all the colors I used and set them up into rows based on what they are used for. I separate my skin tones, my armor tones, etc out into their beginning to end color phase. I also do this with my washes, to ensure that every model has the same look as I move through the unit.

4. From there ,I start the unit with putting down base colors first and then moving on from there. I slowly go through each level of color for the section I am painting. You can normally paint one layer and go all the way to the end with the same color and have the first one be dry by the time you get done. From there you can move onto the next layer and go from there. Washes, take a bit longer to dry, and that is why I normally leave the washes towards the end since a lot of the time I use the same one to unify the entire piece in a shade of color.

5. I move through each color set until the model is done. This is a way you can finish large batches of models in a small amount of time. Usually after a model of two you can start to move faster as you know how to lay the paint down since you are doing it over and over again.

Next time I will go through the use of washes and how you can use one color to help create a unifying shade throughout the model. It adds a nice bit of depth to the model and is really a quick way to get a finished piece for your army.

If you have any questions about the list or want to know more, shoot me an email. And again, the link below takes you to my art and miniature commission site.

20081121

So today's quick tip is about free handing. Most inexperienced painters are intimidated by the prospect of drawing outside the lines and making their model truly unique. But it is really easy. First I'll go over the basic steps, and then show some examples of really simple free hands.

1. Concept. You want to have a pretty good idea of what you want the subject to look like when completed. If this is your first time then start simple.

2. Pencil it out. This step is really the most important and the least often thought of. You'll need a sharp pencil (preferably a mechanical pencil with .5 mm lead). Again, make sure to start with something simple, just straight lines, like some checkers. Don't press too hard or your pencil will tear through the paint instead of marking on top of it.3. Paint consistency. This is very important, the paint should really be about the consistency of melted butter (sorry, couldn't think of a better comparison). If it is too thin then you'll have no control and you'll end up with a mess. Too thick and it won't flow the way you need it to. Below you can see a free handed icon that was done with slightly too thick paint. You can see how it's a little chunky in places.

4. Build on your success. Once you've done a few simple things to build your confidence, try something a bit more complicated. Look through Codex's and Army Books, there are tons of little images scattered throughout. Just like anything else, practice makes perfect.

20081114

Ever since I started working for the Fire Department, I've really been in need of a nice compact, durable and versatile way to get my projects to work and back in one piece. From that necessity came my current portable paint set up.

Much of what I have been using has been from things I found around my house and at work. The base of which is a flip top flat box from GW's shipping department. I have used this box as a mixing palette for my terrain projects, a priming surface for just about every model I paint, and as a container to keep some of my most needed paints on hand and organized.

As you can see, I pack the box to it's limit. I routinely pack around 29 GW paints and 6 Vallejo model color paints in this one. I also carry my brushes and pencils in the box as well, if you still have the little plastic covers, they'll stay in great shape so long as you don't have them pressed up against anything. The larger box you get, the more paints you can lug around, but I've found this one to be perfectly sized for my needs.

Another major addition to my paint set that I've recently stumbled across is a document protector that I found around work when I forgot to bring a palette with me. It ended up being the perfect companion piece to an already nicely compact set up. With this you can also fold it over on itself and with a little bit of water around the paint, it will seal off the paint and keep it from drying out should you need to step away for a moment. I just fold this up and throw it in with the paints and close up the box.

The last piece of the puzzle is a durable plastic cup. The cup isn't just for your water when painting either. Should your project be small enough, you can wrap it up in the paper towel and stuff it all into the cup for a bit of protection and a much easier transport! This might not work for army projects, but it gets the trick done for one off models!

And there you have it! A nice compact, durable, and portable paint set that costs next to nothing (past the paints that is!).

20081111

I've been doing a lot of reading as of late into model tank weathering. My search has led me to many different methods and takes on the subject and I've landed squarely in the land of military modeling, where many wargamers fear to tread.

Over the years, I've done my share of weathering experimentation and even created my own tutorial for a very simplistic approach to the subject that many wargamers out there could emulate with what they already have available to them. But my increasing interest in the subject had me really searching for more effective ways to weather tanks and vehicles to the next level.

Today, I happened upon Exponent Wargaming, where I found a few really great links to some really great sites. Some I'd already seen before, others completely new. And it made me realize that the biggest problem people have figuring out this whole weathering thing, is finding a lot of information in one place. So I decided to put together a small cross section of the best, most informative step by step tutorials I could find.FichtenFoo's T-74 Painting and Weathering - A great all around from the start of the painting process to the finished weathering and a lot of things in between.

I know I'll be pouring over all of these amazing resources for weeks and months to come. For those of you who might have some more links to some other sites, feel free to leave them in the comments section! I'm always down for more reading!

I hope more wargamers out there like myself will feel inspired to take their craft to the next level and really push the boundaries wargaming realism.

20081107

I recently started working on some Orks after acquiring the Assault on Black Reach boxed set. It took me a bunch of months but I finally finished cleaning them all off and eventually finished a model for my test scheme. One of the things that really seemed to catch peoples eye was the simple yet effective rust effect I came up with for my metals.

To start off with you of course need to get a base coat started. This could be whatever color really, here I've gone with a Brown Violet from Vallejo. The second step is to take a very beat up old brush and apply splotches of Vermin Brown by stippling the old brush in a random pattern. You can apply as little or as much of this as you want, it's all about the final effect you're going for! The third and final step (at least for today), is to stipple Fiery Orange over the Vermin Brown layer. I used a standard brush for the final step and made it broken and random. For an idea of where you can take this here's my finished Ork test model:

As you can see, I have done some additional weathering and metal work around and on top of this effect to make it more subtle and feel more realistic.

A quick side note: Apparently GW isn't selling Fiery Orange anymore, but you could easily use Blazing Orange instead for this technique. For those of you with Fiery Orange still, disregard!

There are many different rust painting techniques out there, and you should definitely do some research as to just what style of rust you are going for on a particular piece. The more you know about the different approaches, the more variation and realism you can apply to your own take on rust.